Bears in the Pines

[manumuskin]

I don"t know about that docile stuff.I"ve caught four rattlers in my life.one in WV,two in TENN and one right near batsto and the one in WV was docile and so was one in Tenn but the other one and the one in the barrens were all piss n vinegar.they wanted a fight and I gave em one.I won all four rounds actually.no bites andstill have all my digits
Al

 

[bach2yoga]

I have pics, but they aren't developed yet. This rattler was the yellow phase, a mature male. Extremely camoflauged as he slithered away, very difficult to see him among the grasses. Would be easy to step on...
I will certainly post them when they are developed.
He seemed a bit agitated in the box, but who could blame him?

 

[BorderWalker]

I don"t know about that docile stuff.I"ve caught four rattlers in my life.one in WV,two in TENN and one right near batsto and the one in WV was docile and so was one in Tenn but the other one and the one in the barrens were all piss n vinegar.they wanted a fight and I gave em one.I won all four rounds actually.no bites andstill have all my digits
Al

Well, maybe relatively docile. It also depends on the individual, I guess. As a kid I used to collect anything I came across. At one point I had four painted turtles from a fishing trip. Three of them were perfectly good natured, but there one was who just didn't like anyone. He'd snap and hiss if you so much as put your hand near him. Angry little man, I still have a few scars curtesy of that one.

But, tangling with rattlers? How'd you end up doing that? (Four times no less.) One way or the other, good reflexes on your part!

--Tom

 

[manumuskin]

I"ve loved snakes since I was a little kid.I carry a snake stick in my truck at all times though I admit I"ve never used it yet.just got it a year ago.every rattler I"ve caught has been by tailing like steve erwin does and pinning their heads with a stick.Any snakes that aren"t venemous I jusy snatch em wherever I happen to grab em.I"ve been bitten literally hundreds of times by your everyday non venemous kinds but never yet by a rattler.never had the pleasure of catching a copperhead yet.Their are roughly 22 kinds of snakes in southern nj and the only ones I haven"t caught are.scarlet snake,eastern milksnake,coastal plains milksnake and corn snake.
I"ve never been turtle bit.They look like they have a nasty bite.I"ve caught a lotta snappers too but never bit.
Al

 

[BEHR655]

Behr meets Bear

With friends today, in the Delaware Water Gap area, a black bear bounded out in front of our truck. This was on a back road with a few houses. It looked like it had come out of someone's backyard. I'd say this fella would have been about 5' tall on it's hind legs. There were 2 cameras and a camcorder at hand but no one got a shot.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I saw a bear today -- at Popcorn Park Zoo.

 

[bach2yoga]

See, there are bears in the Pine Barrens!
My kids love that place!
Renee

 

[KARL]

bears and rattlesnakes

this old piney believes that black bears cannot survive well in the pine barrens....they need a lot of berries and other types of plants that dont grow down here....im not surprised that they end up eating sheep....too bad, id love to see them take root down here.........knew a fella over at mt misery many years ago who got bitten by a timber rattler....didnt die but he admittted he wished he had for several months........the poison acted on his nervous system,and left him paralyzed on his left side for several months......so dont fool with em.......anybody see any of the black racers i mentioned.....the real big ones

 

[kingofthepines]

Behr meets Bear

With friends today, in the Delaware Water Gap area, a black bear bounded out in front of our truck. This was on a back road with a few houses. It looked like it had come out of someone's backyard. I'd say this fella would have been about 5' tall on it's hind legs. There were 2 cameras and a camcorder at hand but no one got a shot.

I was in the same area around the same time as you and managed to snap off a few pictures of the bears who raided every campsite in the primitive section of Camp Taylor. My first encounter with the momma bear was hair raising. She looking in the tent and me looking out. Nose to nose at about six inches.
The pics are dark because it was around 6am. and the flash on the digital only carried so far. The pics of the cubs I treed was only slightly better as I dared get a bit closer.

Hard to see but there are three cubs racing up the left side of the tree.

 

[njvike]

But I don't agree with the bear hunt. Maybe I'd feel different if I lived in an area with bears, but I highly doubt it.
Renee

The problem with bears is two-fold. You have idiots (my neighbors) that continue to leave out bird feeders and garbage at night and even one dolt who decided to feed it by throwing it a bagel or donut. When the bear wanted more he took a swipe at the kids and the bear had to be put down because of this moron.

We in Sussex county have seen it all. We had a bear in our neighborhood take up residence and decided to go through the everyone's garbage one night. Since the bear wasn't a threat, the police shot it with a rubber bullet and we haven't seen the bear since. I think that was the right thing to do here.

Now, if you ask some of the people whose homes were ransacked you're going to get a completely different view. These folks have had first-hand experience and are completely terrified since some of the bears have no fear.

I believe if we just use common sense and didn't leave garbage out at night or leave bird feeders out, we will do pretty good. Unfortunately, there's going to be a time, if we aren't there already, when the bear population is going to get too far out of control.

If you or anyone else is really interested in getting some opinions from some of my neighbors, just start a thread at http://nj.com/forums/sussex/

I still hope there is an alternative.

 

[foofoo]

bear steaks are good eats! as long as they keep building those billion dollar developements and tearing down the woods we must all pay. i will be doing my part by hunting them this year. i had to take a three hour class at rutgers to do so. the biologist say that new jersey can carry about 600 bears but have an estimated poulation of 2 to 3 thousand. i spoke to people up north near the waywayanda state park and it seems the bears are eating pets and llamas, swating at windows of houses and trying to get through doors for food. we made this mess so if by having a hunting season puts some fear back into the bears maybe they will not confront humans as much. step on a bug or chop down a weed all life is sacred. when a critter is fuzzy with fur and is cute all the sudden its not right. the only difference between a hunter and a non hunter is the hunter chooses to kill what it eats thats it!

 

[bach2yoga]

bear steaks are good eats! as long as they keep building those billion dollar developements and tearing down the woods we must all pay. i will be doing my part by hunting them this year. i had to take a three hour class at rutgers to do so. the biologist say that new jersey can carry about 600 bears but have an estimated poulation of 2 to 3 thousand. i spoke to people up north near the waywayanda state park and it seems the bears are eating pets and llamas, swating at windows of houses and trying to get through doors for food. we made this mess so if by having a hunting season puts some fear back into the bears maybe they will not confront humans as much. step on a bug or chop down a weed all life is sacred. when a critter is fuzzy with fur and is cute all the sudden its not right. the only difference between a hunter and a non hunter is the hunter chooses to kill what it eats thats it!

We need to keep the deer population down too, especially in the northern counties....the deer herbivory in some northern communities decimates T&E populations. There is a proposal on the desk of the Division of Taxation right now to impute the value of $50 onto the head of a doe to help farmers who have woodland management plans in order to get farmland assessment. Rather than logging $500 worth of trees to qualify for the assessment, the value of the does tagged would qualify them for farmland assessment.

Renee